Obama ’85 speaks about undergraduate experience as part of video campaign

First Lady Michelle Obama ’85 described feeling overwhelmed when first stepping onto campus as a freshman in a video for “I’m First,” a collection founded by the Center for Student Opportunity.

According to the Center for Student Opportunity, “I’m First” aims to provide first-generation students and their mentors with “inspiration, information and support on the road to and through college.”

Obama is the series’ first celebrity contributor.

In her video, Obama explains that because neither of her parents graduated from college, she did not know how to find her classes or furnish her dorm room, adding that she did not even have the correct size sheets.

“But here’s the thing, I may not have had the right sheets, but I learned pretty quickly that I had what it took to succeed in college,” Obama said in the video.

University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 attended a White House conference on increasing college opportunities for low-income students on Jan. 16. He said a speech delivered by Obama about her Princeton education was a highlight of the conference.